SAO Reduex: America
by ObsessionOutlet
Summary: The death game SAO has several incarnations. The dastardly Kayaba Akihiko has sent copies of its servers to several countries. One of these copies has ended up in America. How will this turn out? (This is a story following a different timeline and a completely OC cast. Although, you probably figured that out already)
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome, everyone! This is my seconds SAO fanfic, and I do hope you enjoy!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Another Incarnation of SAO**

A man in a white coat sits in a dark room, the only illumination coming from his lone computer monitor. The woman standing behind him clears her throat.

"Kayaba. Why are we still here? I thought the game was already in its preparation for release. Why do you still need this computer."

The man, Kayaba Akihiko, smiles. "I'm just awaiting confirmation from one of my overseas contacts. I'm sending the game worldwide, on separate servers."

The woman purses her lips, but it is invisible from the darkness. Kayaba taps a few keys on his keyboard, and a chat window comes up. The contact reads: "Steven Appal".

Kayaba begins typing. He awaits the message confirming that his project is secured in America. After another ten minutes of grueling waiting, he gets an email. He reads it and smiles. He quickly shuts the computer off, leaving the room in complete darkness. "And so my dream will come to fruition."

* * *

My name is Leon Parson, I am 5' 7" with blond hair that spikes naturally, and blue eyes. My friends find it to be a good joke when they call me 'Cloud Strife'. My friends are all good ones, but their jokes usually come at others' expense. I am 16, and in my junior year of high school. I was one of the lucky few 1000 players who got to beta test a new VRMMO called 'Sword Art Online'. My friends were all jealous of me, and told me that once it came out, I needed to teach them what I know.

The day Sword Art Online came out, thankfully, school was out. we were on break, and I spent the entire day preparing for it. I went over everything I knew, decided on my weapon style, and found out my friends' future usernames. I had my NerveGear set up, SAO installed, and was ready and raring to go as I put the NerveGear on at around 11:50, 10 minutes before the game's launch. I smiled as the clock struck 12:00.

"Link Start!"

I felt like I was being lifted out of my body, and thousands of colors and letter flew past me. I signed in under the username 'Cloud'. My friends had convinced me to use it, since they planned on calling me that anyway. I had changed little on my beta avatar, and when it asked me if I wanted to use it I accepted. I heard a monotone, female, computer-generated voice welcome me to Sword Art Online as the world materialized around me.

I quickly navigated my menu, and put my stats in Strength, Vitality, and Speed, while selecting [2-H Sword] and [Acrobatics] as my skills. I had figured out during the beta that this combination made me a tank-like character who was fast and able to take hits fairly well. I quickly walked to a blacksmith and purchased the cheapest broadsword they had for 75 Col, a big hit early on, but worth it. My next goal was the inn the five of us were meeting at.

My friends were there, sitting around laughing and cheering. They had found immense joy in making themselves into more of the cast from Final Fantasy 7. The oldest of our group, his real name was Joe, had made himself into Sephiroth. His girlfriend, Jill, had made herself into Tifa, my other two friends, Kyle and Luke, had made themselves into Zach and Angeal. I sat down next to them, and Kyle gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"'Bout time you made it, Cloud!" He said in his usual cheery way.

I sighed. "You guys, I don't even know how you convinced me to name myself that."

That got a good laugh out of everyone. "Well, Cloud, how about you teach us the stuff you know. I mean, you did promise." Joe said.

I stood. "Well, follow me then."

We walked out the North Gate of Starting City and out into the wild where all the _[Blue Boars] _roamed around. I explained to them how to spend their stat points, and how to get their skills. Once I had done that, I attracted the attention of a _[Blue Boar]_ and demonstrated a Sword Skill.

"Now remember, this is just the Two-Handed Sword Skill. Your skill menu should have the position for starting yours."

I held my blade over my left shoulder, and waited as the Boar charged. When I felt that the energy was about to explode, I let the system take over, initiating Vertical Crush, smashing into the Boar. It took out half the Boar's health, and stunned it. I took the opportunity, once I had control over my body again, to slash the Boar again. I only took out another 10% with my normal slash.

I finished the Boar off, and sheathed my sword. "Alright. It's your turn, guys. I wanna see you all do the same kind of thing I just did."

They all scattered, and I watched all of them take down a Boar quickly. I knew that Jill and Kyle, or rather, Tifa and Zach, were able to do it easier, having four Sword Skills in their arsenal at the start. _I hope I remember to call them by their character names. They won't have a problem since they call me Cloud already. _To my surprise, Sephiroth was the first done. I looked and saw he was using a katana, and made a mental note to make sure he got that extra skill.

What was even more surprising was that Angeal was the second one done, and Tifa the last. "Well, now that that's done, we can get leveling." I said, and they all had massive grins on their faces. I sent them all party invites, as well as friend requests. They all accepted both, and we killed a couple hours killing _[Blue Boars]_, and getting closer to level 2.

We were taking a break, when I felt the sudden sensation of being teleported. _A Mass Teleport? An admin must have some message for us. _When the teleportation ended, I saw that Angeal, Zach, Tifa, and Sephiroth were all dazed. I looked at them, and told them I was almost as confused as them. We saw a hexagonal shape appear in the sky, and then mass of them dominate it. Then, a red liquid that looked like blood poured down and formed a hooded figure with white gloves.

"Hello, players. I am Steven Appal. I would like to personally welcome you 10,000 to Sword Art Online."

I had to take a step back. _Steven Appal? The man who is currently in charge of the American branch? _

"I'm sure all of you have noticed by now that the log-out button is absent from the menu. This is not a bug, nor a glitch. That was an intentional feature."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and murmurs began.

"In addition, if you die inside the game, your NerveGear will emit radioactive microwaves and fry your brain. Also, if an attempt is made from an outside source to take the NerveGear off, the same result will occur."

I looked around, and saw how worried people were. I looked at my four friends, and I looked down at the ground.

"Also, you will find that, in a few moments, your avatar will be made to look exactly like you do in reality. The only way out of this game is to clear all 100 floors of this place, Aincrad. Good luck players, and may luck shine over you."

With that he vanished. I looked around to see everyone's appearance completely altered from before, some men became women, and vice versa. Some people who were tall became short, and some who were mid-height became tall. I knew I looked almost exactly the same. I turned to my friends with a solemn look on my face.

"Guys. I'm sorry..." I started.

Sephiroth put his hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. We all know you are a solo gamer. Just don't die on us. We expect to hear from you again."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and I turned to leave. "I'll see you guys later." With that, I began running. I ran towards the second town, Horunka Village. Thanks to my knowledge as a beta tester, I would be able to efficiently level there. When I finally reached it, I felt exhausted. It was almost night, and I decided that I would be better off sleeping outside for the night. I found a bench, and got as comfortable as I could, and fell asleep.

When I awoke to the alarm, I noted that it was 6:00 AM. I got up and stretched. I knew that the only quest that I would be able to complete was the _[Secret Medicine of the Forest] _quest, so I headed towards the cabin it was in. I ignored the questgiver's spheal and accepted the quest. I ran out into the forest, and rechecked my level. _Level 1 at 50%. I have a decent lead... _I saw the first _[Little Nepent] _when I was a little ways from the village. I noticed that it had neither a fruit nor a flower, but knew it was all I was going to find for a while.

I got within range of it, and initiated Vertical Crush on its weak point, cutting away 25% of its life in a single swing, and stunning it. I began slashing at it during this short period, effectively getting another 20% knocked off. I had to dodge its vines as my Vertical Crush recharged, and I repeated the process until it died. It had managed to knock 15% off my life as well, but I saw another plain one and repeated the process again. I kept this up for a while, until I was at the 35% mark. I rested then, having leveled up and drank a potion.

I went into my menu and divided my three points evenly between Strength, Speed, and Vitality. Of course, Strength and Speed were ahead by one point from my initial five points at the start, but it wasn't that large of a difference yet. Once I was fully healed, I resumed my process. I was able to take the Nepents out in two Vertical Crushes now, and they only managed to get 7% on me now. I spent another hour doing this, and almost gained a third level. I moved back from where the Nepents were, and took a break.

I leaned against a nearby tree, and opened my menu. I pulled up my friends list, and tapped on Sephiroth's name. I began typing my message out to him.

_How is your guys' leveling coming along? Are you guys level 2 yet? I'm almost level 3. I feel really bad about leaving you guys behind. Is what I taught you of use yet? Message me back as soon as you can. -Cloud._

I sighed quietly. _It's hard leaving my friends behind...but, I work best alone. _I stood up, my health back at full, and turned to the Nepents. I was elated to see one that had a flower on its head. I ran at it, and used Vertical Crush. I realized too late that there was one with a fruit right next to it, and it released its stench, calling god-knows-how-many more of them. I cursed myself for not noticing it before now. I took the one with a flower out as quickly as I could, but it was too late, and I was surrounded.

I pursed my lips, and looked around. _Twenty or so...not good. _I followed my normal strategy, but had to account for all of the Nepents surrounding me. I managed to take out seven of them before my health dropped into the yellow. I was also panting heavily from the mental stress. I was about to give in, because I knew it was hopeless, when I heard some yelling from my right. I saw Sephiroth standing over me, along with Tifa, Zach, and Angeal.

Sephiroth gave me a grin. "We followed you. You have a habit of getting into trouble, so we figured we'd come make sure you didn't die this early."

Angeal turned his head to me. "Now get yer ass up off the ground, man! We didn't let you be a wimp in reality, we ain't gonna let you be one now!"

Zach laughed a bit. "Yeah! Where's all the spirit you had when you were teaching us? Don't tell me a few little monsters are gonna get you down!"

Tifa smiled warmly. "Now, come on! We all wanna help you fight, so get up and fight by our side!"

I picked myself up, and gripped my weapon tightly. I saw the popup that told me Sephiroth had invited me to a party, and I accepted. I took my battle stance, and we charged at the Nepents, the five of us taking them out efficiently and with little struggle. When all of them were dead, I collapsed onto the ground, my health hovering just above 29%. Everyone else seemed to have their health around 40%, telling me they were a lower level than me.

I noticed that I had gained a level, and a considerable amount of Col from that last fight. I went in and distributed my stat points a little differently. Two went into Vitality, and one into Strength. I picked myself up, and we all walked towards the cabin where I turned the quest in, earning myself an _[Anneal Blade]_, though, I didn't have much use for it, since I used two-handed swords. I gave it to Zach, who equipped it quickly. We all went to the inn, and rented a room. We said goodnight to each other, and each went to our respective rooms.

I plopped down onto my bed, and stretched myself out. _They followed me. I left them, and they followed me. Why? And why risk their own lives to help me? _I sighed, and rolled over. _Well, I guess they are my friends...so maybe that's why. _I yawned, or at least it felt like I did, and I slowly closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

* * *

**Well, there it is! 'Till next time~  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome again all! I am fairly pleased with the results so far, so I'll keep going.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online, Gods help us if I did.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Friends' Journey**

I awoke to the standard alarm, once again noting just how early it was. I yawned, and walked out into the hallway. I saw the others were up, and we all greeted each other groggily. I gave them all a somewhat half-hearted smile, and cleared my throat.

"So. Shall we all go prepare, and then head out for a day of training?" I said, a bit too sheepishly.

Everyone laughed, and it lightened the mood considerably. We all walked down the stairs, and went our separate ways to buy things for the day. I figured with some of the Col from my date with death, I may as well upgrade my armor a little bit. I walked to the blacksmith, and began looking at what he had to sell. I decided on some heavier leather armor. It had a 20% movement reduction, but it was well worth it. I was able to pick up most of the set, minus a helmet and cloak. I was left with just enough to repair my sword.

After equipping my new armor, and getting my blade repaired, I went to meet up with everyone. I found that I was the last one ready, although I now looked more the role of a tank. We all walked with purpose towards the forest, and I was not hesitant in attacking the first _[Little Nepent] _I saw, luckily it had neither a flower or a fruit on its head. There was a noticeable drag in the way I moved, but I made up for it by knowing the monster's attack patterns and being able to attack and move out of the took two Vertical Crushes to take it down, but I had a huge smile on my face as it did go down. Everyone began laughing at my idiotic smile, and I joined in too. We finally calmed down, and I smirked at them.

"All right. Let's get serious now, eh?" I said, scratching the back of my head.

They all nodded and got serious looks on their faces. We decided that the four of them would handle two Nepents, and I would take one on my own. We made a good pace of taking out four to five, until they were all down. It took about an hour, but we cleared the area of all the _[Little Nepents] _, earning everyone else a level, although just barely. I sat down next to a tree, and let out a large sigh. Everyone came over and sat next to me, trying to make a good conversation.

"So, Cloud, why did you leave in the first place?" Zach asked.

"Well, I'm more of a solo player. I only really have to worry about myself that way." I said, answering honestly.

"He's always been that way, even in the normal MMOs. He never liked to party with me, or wanted to join my guild." Sephiroth said. "He always said that having others to drag him down was not his style."

"Way to make me seem like an ass..." I said.

Angeal laughed, and clapped me on the shoulder. "He didn't make you sound like an ass, just like a loner."

I covered my face with my hands. "How is that better..."

Everyone laughed at this. We spent more time joking, waiting on the Nepents to re-spawn. It took them about an hour, but they did respawn. I was the first one up, and I charged at the first one I saw. I began my 'dance' with it, attacking and dodging in an intricate way. Of course, no one noticed since they were all busy attacking the other monsters, but still. This process went on for a while, until night fell.

After night began falling, we all quickly found out the reason why they tell you not to hunt at night. The Nepents became even less little, standing almost three meters tall. We ran to the town, and all broke out laughing when we arrived. _It feels kind of good to be doing this with others. Maybe being a solo player wasn't such a good idea after all. _We walked to the inn, joking and laughing.

We all quickly said goodnight, and went to our individual rooms for the night. I laid down, my mind exhausted from the day. I didn't have to wait long to get to sleep. Morning came quickly, and the alarm woke me up. I stretched as I stood up, walking to my door and rolling my shoulders. I opened it, and found all of my friends standing there, and I could almost see the gears working in their heads.

"Morning all." I said groggily.

Sephiroth looked at me with a smile. "I think we should move onto the next town."

I rubbed my eyes. "I see...and you want to do this today, I presume?"

Angeal nodded. "Yup. We also knew you would know where it is."

I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Fine. But, we should prepare for it first. The monsters there aren't as easy as these ones."

They all cheered, and scattered. I walked back to the blacksmith, and purchased a new broadsword with some of the Col from the previous day's earnings. It looked a lot similar, except had a sleek finish to it, and looked much sturdier. I swung it around a few times, and when I was satisfied I returned it to its sheathe. I was startled by a hand on my leg, and turned around quickly.

A girl, no more than 12, stood before me. She seemed shy, and was unable to look me in the eye. She spoke quietly, so I had to lean in to hear her voice. "Um...could you help me find my mom?"

I took a second, and examined her head. _No player cursor...Is this a world event? _I pat the little girl on the head, and took her left hand with my right. "Of course I will. Where was the last place you saw her?"

The little girl's face contorted in thought. "It was in a cave."

_A cave? That's odd... _"Was it far from here?" While I was speaking, I opened my menu and sent a message to Sephiroth, telling him to meet me outside the blacksmith ASAP.

The little girl shook her head. "No. It was only a little bit north of here." I saw a small _[Quest Updated!] _In the corner of my vision.

"Alright, well I'm getting some friends and we'll all take you to go to your mom, okay?" I said lovingly.

She smiled, and nodded. I heard four sets of feet running towards me, and I turned to greet my friends, but was shocked to see another group of players running towards me with angry looks. The leader, a girl with long, blonde hair, marched up to me looking very pissed off.

"What the hell are you doing?" She said, nodding towards the girl. "The quest is ours."

I chuckled. _I remember now. these happen every so often, where the AAI's will get lost, and their pathfinding will fail. _"Actually, I believe it's my quest now. I was the one who agreed to help her find her mother, after all."

The girl looked even more angry now. "Fine. We'll duel over it then. If I win, my group gets the quest. If you win, you get it."

I laughed. "Fine, but it doesn't matter. I already have it in my log."

She didn't speak, and I received a popup stating that I was being challenged to a duel by the girl, named Liza, with a 60-second countdown. I shooed the little girl to one side, and hit _Accept_. The duel panel came up, along with the timer. I watched her get into a battle position, and I chose not to, gripping my blade's handle instead. I had a smile on my face, and I saw she was very serious.

_30..._She smirked a little, and I took a quick glance at her weapon. _A shortsword, eh?_ The timer was almost out, 5 seconds remaining.

_4..._

_3..._

_2..._

_1..._

As the counter vanished, replaced by the word Start, I jumped to my right, and drew my blade. She had time to adjust of course, but was unable to block the full brunt of my Vertical Crush as it came down. I watched as her health dropped from 100% to 55% in that one swing. I took advantage of her being stunned, and followed up with a short three-hit chain of attacks, dropping her health another 20%, into the red zone. I hadn't planned on her counterattack, however, and was hit by the full blast of her Horizontal, Slant, and Vertical. I took 25% from this, but was able to retaliate with a quick swing across her chest, winning me the duel.

The girl growled at me. "You cheated somehow. There's no way you could've beat me if we were the same strength."

I glared at her. "What level are you?"

She smiled proudly. "Level 3."

I opened my menu, and went to my stat screen. I turned it to her. "I just hit Level 5 last night. You were outclassed."

She stared slack-jawed. "Y-you're a cheater! I'm one of the highest leveled players!"

I chuckled as my friends arrived. "Of the non-betas, sure. But as for my friends here, they're all Level 4." I leaned in closer, my face extremely close to hers. "Don't get full of yourself next time."

I stood upright, and turned to my friends. "What was that all about?" Tifa asked.

The little girl came running back up to me. "This girl here has lost her mother in a cave to the north. She wants our help to go find her."

The girl re-explained how she had lost her mom, and that she was in a cave to the north. I saw my friends jump, and assumed the same update had come for them, too. They all nodded at me, understanding that it was the same for me. When the girl finished talking, I cleared my throat.

"Can you wait in the inn for me? In my room, and we'll bring your mom to you?" The girl nodded, and I led her to my room at the inn. She ran in, and went to the couch. I closed the door, and turned to my friends.

"A cave, huh? Mind explaining a little more?" Zach said.

"I will later. For now, we have to hurry to the cave." I said. _If I'm right, then it's timed._

They all nodded, and we started running. I was fairly sure of where the cave was, and my suspicions were confirmed when we arrived, and I saw two _[Brown Bears] _surrounding a woman on the ground. One was roaring at her, and she appeared to be crying. _I thought so. This was a popular world event location in the beta. _I checked the Bears' levels. _Level 5. Could be dangerous. _The others had already drawn their weapons, so I drew mine too.

We ran at them, following a similar strategy to when we fought Nepents. I took one on alone, while they took on the other. I didn't anticipate its fighting power, however, and took a large chunk of damage early on. It's first hit, knocked me down 25% percent. I readied my Vertical Crush, and hit it, giving the Bear a good solid hit for 20%. In the stun period, I followed up with a three-hit combo, giving a slash on its side, down its back, and on the snout. I discovered the snout to be the weak point, dropping it a total of 30%.

I barely dodged its next attack, its paw swiping just in front of me. I readied my Vertical Crush, and hit the Bear square on the snout, dealing enough damage to kill it. I looked over and saw that they had taken the other Bear out. I put my blade away, and approached the woman.

"Hello, miss. I think you and your daughter got separated." I put my hand out for her to grab it.

She grabbed it, and I pulled her up. "Y-you really can bring me back to my daughter?" She asked timidly.

I nodded, and we led her back to the inn. When we arrived, I led her to my room, and she almost jumped for joy when she saw her daughter. They hugged, and I saw a _[Quest Update!] _in the corner of my vision. The two of them looked at us.

"Thank you all. I was terrified out there." I watched her make a motion like she was navigating a menu, and then four weapons appeared in her hands. A broadsword, a katana, a shortsword, and a claymore. We all took our respective weapons, and equipped them. Mine was a silver-laced gray blade, with a golden dragon's head at the place where the hilt met with the blade. Tifa's new shortsword appeared like a silver rapier, with gold lacings and designs on the handle. Sephiroth's new katana was a deep gray, with silver lacings on the handle. And Angeal's new claymore was all shades of gray, with the brighter ones at the handle, and it had a dragon's head at the place where the blade met the hilt as well.

The woman gave a warm smile. "My husband made those before he died. The rapier is called 'Hope's Light', and it was made when our daughter was born. The broadsword is named 'Dragon's Fate', and it was made when my husband first got a special material for a weapon. The katana is named 'Life's Domain', and it was made when our daughter was concieved. The claymore is 'Life's End', and it was the last one my husband made before he died." She bowed deeply, and began to leave. "Take good care of them." And with that, she left.

I went into my inventory, and read the effect of the broadsword, named "Dragon's Fate", and I considered it somewhat bland. It was a bit stronger than my pervious weapon, and lighter by a small amount. But what confused me was the fact that it had an effect, but it read, quite literally, '?'. _I'll have to have someone appraise this when their skill gets high enough._

We all smiled at each other, but Zach felt left out. "Why didn't I get a fancy new weapon?"

I closed my menu. "Because AAI's, or Advanced Artificial Intelligence, have their own strange ways. That was what we betas came to call 'World Events'. It occurs when one or more AAI's become lost, and their pathfinding program fails." I turned to Zach. "AAI think in their own ways. That quest was given to all of us, and the EXP and Col was shared. However, she granted the four of us special weapons."

Zach pouted. "Why you four...ah, well. It was interesting." I was impressed by his quick recovery, and I clapped him on the shoulder.

"Shall we get moving on to the next town now? I think it'll be a long trip, but we seem well-stocked." Sephiroth said.

We all agreed, and left the inn. I led them towards the next town, and we joked and laughed. Had we paid enough attention, however, we would have noticed four shadows following us. I was happy to have my new weapon, but would have to adjust to the new weight. I also resolved to start recording things in a journal.

* * *

**Well, I have nothing creative to say now.**

**But, a thanks to RicBP for his review that reminded me of something I was going to say.  
**

**If any of you guys want an OC added to the story, pm me with all the info you can come up with. But keep it somewhat organized.  
**

**Well, see you all next time!  
**


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